UConn now offers a combined undergraduate and law degree – the Special Program in Law – to incoming freshmen who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship and determination in pursuing a legal career.
The first group of 11 students admitted to the program began their undergraduate work in fall 2009. If the students maintain a 3.4 GPA and complete the other requirements of the program during their undergraduate careers, they will be offered admission to the UConn law school upon graduation.
For years, undergraduates at universities around the country have had little guidance as to the specifics of their pre-law education, since most universities do not offer a pre-law major. UConn’s new program, although it is not a major per se, offers students direct access to law-related courses at the undergraduate level.
“Institutionally, it’s a great program because it will attract the best and brightest starting at the undergraduate level,” says Karen DeMeola, the law school’s assistant dean for admissions and student finance.
Aside from the academic benefits of the program, students benefit from their involvement in such a close-knit program, which allows them to join focused discussions and student-led presentations with like-minded individuals.
“If the other large lecture courses are like Costco, then the law program is the corner deli,” says Jay Polansky, a second semester pre-journalism major. “While big lecture courses are great to offer a broad survey of a topic to a large group of students, the personalized attention and focus we get in the program are extremely beneficial.”
Officials are hoping to slowly expand the program as it becomes established and as more resources become available, says Rebecca Flanagan, pre-law advisor at Storrs and coordinator of the Special Program in Law.
“We want to keep it small and intimate,” she says. “We hope to reach 15 students five years down the road.”
Since the Special Program in Law is a plan of study and not a major, students admitted to the program must select a major that focuses on building skills in logic and critical thinking. In doing so, students learn the basics of law while also gaining the communication and research skills necessary for a career in law. At the same time, they are encouraged to follow their interests and explore the many options open to them.
“The curriculum is a work-in-progress designed to meet the needs and interests of each of the students admitted to the program,” says Flanagan. “I designed the program with enough flexibility to meet the diverse interests of the students while also addressing the skills and competencies I found to be essential to law school success.”
That tailor-made quality has led to the development of special interdisciplinary courses that work with the University’s Honors Program in order to expose students to many aspects of law which may not be regularly taught at the undergraduate level, says Flanagan. Last semester, for example, students in the program took a course that focused on controversial issues at the intersection of sports and law.
“But don’t be mistaken,” says Flanagan. “While the courses are new and many students find them fun and exciting, they are demanding.”
The program also provides enrichment experiences that leave students better prepared for professional education at the close of their undergraduate careers, she says.
During the fall semester, students in the program met the dean of the law school, Jeremy Paul; Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice William Robinson, and distinguished alumni who spoke to them about their post-graduate experiences and careers. They also had the opportunity to attend a number of events outside the classroom, such as the Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s production of The Exonerated, a play about six wrongfully convicted people sentenced to death row. The play was preceded by a panel discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the legal system.
“This all happened during our first semester, and there is certainly much, much more to come,” says Jeremy Bui, a second semester accounting major currently enrolled in the program.
The Special Program in Law was inspired by the success of two other combined-degree programs offered at the University: the combined programs in medicine and dental medicine. These programs, like the law program, offer promising students admission into their respective schools upon graduation. All three work with the University’s Honors Program in order to develop rigorous instruction for the outstanding students who are chosen to participate.
